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Stocks end busy week quietly
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March 26, 1999: 5:32 p.m. ET
Small decline on Wall Street ends a week of deep plunges and rallies
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Wall Street closed lower Friday, as investors exercised caution ahead of a weekend that promises more NATO strikes in Yugoslavia and a week that will bring a Federal Reserve policy meeting.
The Dow Jones industrial average finished 14.15 points lower at 9,822.24. The blue-chip index ended its volatile week with a loss of 0.82 percent, trimming its advance for the year to 6.98 percent.
Declines beat advances 1,649 to 1,331 as 696 million shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Nasdaq Composite lost 15.63 points to 2,419.17 and the S&P 500 index dropped 7.19 to 1,282.80. The Nasdaq ended the week nearly unchanged, down only 0.08 percent, and is now up 10.34 percent for the year. The S&P 500 index lost 1.27 percent on the week, contracting its gain for the year to 4.36 percent.
The dollar leapt to a two-week high against the yen and stayed near record peaks against the euro, firming impressively as global investors made a bid to quality ahead of the weekend as the armed conflict between NATO and Yugoslavia continued.
An early surge in bond prices dissipated by mid-afternoon, robbing the stock market of staying power. The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond turned away from the rebounding dollar to fall 5/32 of a point in price, sending the yield back up to 5.59 percent.
Stock traders, meanwhile, were lightening their positions in the market before the weekend, while some also took advantage of the opportunity to take some profits after Thursday's rambunctious rally. Courtney Smith, chief investment officer at Orbitex Management, said such performance was normal after a volatile week, and especially with the threat of an extended military involvement by NATO in the Balkans. (430K WAV) or (430K WAV)
The uncertainties over the duration of the air strikes and the threat of ground conflict, kept some investors leery of being caught in the market by any bellicose surprises, putting extra selling pressure on stocks.
Although few on Wall Street expect the Fed to change its interest rate stance when the Federal Open Market Committee gathers Tuesday, the upcoming meeting still produced a small dose of angst in the market, adding pressure to stock prices.
Techs go down, techs go up
Closer to home, gloom surrounding upcoming first-quarter corporate earnings seemed largely dispelled after encouraging reports from Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (MWD) and Micron Technology (MU). However, some concerns remained, mostly over the technology sector.
Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) slipped 1-13/16 to 178-1/8 as investors locked in recent gains spurred by the software titan's willingness to settle a broad antitrust lawsuit with the Justice Department and representatives of 19 states.
Other technology stocks moved in separate directions, with Cisco Systems (CSCO) losing 2-1/4 to 105-3/16, 3Com (COMS) edging down 1/2 to 23-1/4 and Dell (DELL) down 1/4 at 37-7/8. Intel (INTC) lost 1-1/4 to 116-11/16 and Compaq (CPQ) crept down 1/8 to 31-3/8.
The Dow's computer components, however, reversed early losses, with IBM (IBM) climbing 1-1/16 to 172-3/8 and Hewlett Packard (HWP) gaining 1-1/16 to 68-11/16.
Banks, brokers ease as well
A day after gaining ground on the strength of Morgan Stanley's bullish earnings report, finance stocks also fell victim to sporadic profit taking.
Morgan Stanley (MWD) shares slipped 1-1/4 to 102-5/8, but Merrill Lynch (MER) fought the profit-takers to climb 1-3/16 to 88-3/4 and Lehman Brothers (LEH) added 1-1/4 to 60-1/8.
Banks and other financial-service providers also retreated from Thursday's gains. Shares of Wells Fargo (WFC) slipped 13/16 to 36-7/16 and Bank One (ONE) eased 7/16 to 55-1/8. Dow member American Express (AXP) shed 1-3/4 to 120-3/4 and J.P. Morgan (JPM) edged up 3/4 to 122-7/8, but fellow finance blue-chip Citigroup (C) gained 3/8 to 63-3/8.
Drug maker Warner-Lambert (WLA) also slipped, easing 1-21/32 to 67-11/16 as the company entered an FDA advisory hearing over whether its Rezulin diabetes treatment, which the FDA blames for 28 deaths, can remain on the market with existing warning labels intact.
Taking exception to the overall market softness, however, shares of Dow member McDonald's (MCD) advanced 3/16 to 44-3/8 after Merrill Lynch raised its price target for the stock to $55 from $50 a share.
(Click here for a look at today's CNNfn's market movers.)
(Click here for a look at today's CNNfn technology stocks report) 
-- by staff writers Robert Scott Martin and Malina Poshtova Zang
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